Me and Mom!
Introducing…. (da tata daaaa, drum roll, please!)
…. Camille, daughter of Honie’s Gold. We are boarding Honie for Kathe of Sawtooth Star Alpacas.
”Hello, World!”
She was born in the rain on Wednesday morning, about 5AM, 3 days before her due date! I found her about 7AM, brought her inside and got her dried off some. I called Kathe, who came over and did the first iodine dip of the umbilical cord! She weighed in at 18 pounds.
On Wednesday night, we got a big rain storm. I went out to check to be sure all the alpacas had gone inside out of the rain. Everyone was inside except Camille – she was out in the pouring rain hunkered down for the night! She was dry under her coat (although that would not have lasted long), but her head and neck was drenched and the water was running under her so her legs were wet, too. I scooped her up, brought her inside, towel dried her head and legs, and put a dry coat on her. Then I hung out in the barn until she settled down inside for the night!
Now we’re in for nice, warm, and dry weather for a few days, so all is good here! We’ll have a new cria here for Farm Tour! Which is coming up way too fast!
It’s a shawl, it’s a wrap, it’s a throw?
NO! It’s a finished object! I’ve finished the purple shawl I’ve been working on for way too long!
I dyed the yarn – way back in May. But it is ready in plenty of time before the cold weather sets in. It is a custom made request for a customer who wanted a purple blanket/throw made of alpaca to curl up in. It still has the faint scent of grape Kool-aid in it. Grape seems to have the longest lasting smell! I rinse, wash and rinse my yarn after dyeing, but somehow, the grape scent hangs in there!
I think I got the hang of the herringbone pattern by the end of the weaving. You can really see it on this close up.
It didn’t seem to show up much while it was stretched on the loom, so I’m very happy to see the texture come out now that it is finished. Vicki – I hope you love it! And it’s okay if you wish for cold weather! I’m looking forward to wearing my alpaca sweaters again, too!
this and that
The St Michael Daze and Knights festival started today and goes through Sunday. But tomorrow is the craft fair and I’ll be there showing people what my alpacas can grow! Last year was rained out. Today I heard there is no rain in our forecast until next Wed! It is dry already, but I’m glad for the festival! The cool nights are starting to get people thinking about the fact that summer will end – it always does – and then comes the alpaca wearing season!
A bit of bad/sad news – our female alpaca Chestina is not pregnant. She was last fall – per the progesterone test, but it appears she lost or absorbed the fetus. This happens some times, but she is a bit chubby (!) and we didn’t notice this spring.
The other side of the coin is both Spotsie and Embrace have been spitting at Vagabond (poor guy – his ego is totally destroyed!). We’ll soon be doing progesterone tests on them.
Before and After
The Alpacas of Minnesota group met last Sat. I had been working feverishly on getting fiber ready to take to Rach-Al-Paca Farm to be processed. Here is the result before the meeting:
Yes – that is a big pile! Bottom row from left.
1) Big bag of mostly Embrace – fawn, second quality. She’s been too busy having crias to make wonderful fiber. I’m not sure if I’ll get some roving or have this all spun for me. I’ll use it for handbags, placemats, maybe rugs.
2) Big bag of Auracano – white, also second quality for the same reason. I’m also not sure if I’ll have some of this into roving for me to spin. Can’t decide how much time I’ll have.
3 & 4) These dark browns are Chestina’s and Jose’s – full bro and sis. I can’t remember which is which in the photo. I’m having Rachel mix these 2 together and spin it all into various weights of yarn. This is the second shearing for each – so it will be very nice.
Top row from left.
5) Toro – black. I want to spin this! I’m having this made to roving. Toro is the herdsire we own in partnership with Rum River Alpaca Ranch. I get the fiber every other year. This is the 2008 clip. He has great fiber. Yum! Can’t wait!
6) And Pelasia – white. She still has nice fiber. I’ll have this spun into various weights of yarn! For sale and for me to knit into more goodies for sale.
And I after the meeting I came home with these:
2 bags of wonderful roving! The fawn is Vagabond’s – our herdsire. I’ve spun his fiber from the previous year and love it. Have knit it into hats. Isn’t it lovely?
And the other is a mixture of my crias neck and upper leg fiber. Usually this is second quality fiber, but on crias it is still very soft. There just isn’t much of it on little crias, so I tossed 3 or 4 babies’ fiber into a bag and sent it to be made into roving. Some brown, some black. I love it! Can’t wait to spin.
Think I can have these 2 bags of roving turned into yarn before the next batch comes back?
